Find Your Road

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

This quote by the author Lewis Carroll is a favorite of mine because it packs a punch on so many levels.

On the surface, it’s simply a caution against aimlessness. It’s deeper impact is how it prompts the reader to look at its inverse, interpreted as something like, When I know exactly where I want to be, I can find that one road that will get me there most directly. When you dig even deeper still and put it through the filter of organizational decision making, this one 14-word sentence delves into the most important concepts that companies wrestle with every day: Mission, Strategy, and Goals.

• The “where you are going” part is about Mission. The purpose of the organization that employees and all stakeholders rally around.
• The “road” is about Strategy. The concrete plans any organization has to achieve something tangible that supports the mission.
• The last word, “there” is about Goals. The target an organization sets out for itself. The literal endpoint of the mission and strategy.

A statement about mission, strategy, and goals that begins with, “If you don’t know…” gets your attention.

I have found in personal and professional endeavors — large or small / consequential or trivial — this quote serves as a simple and helpful reminder that my first step should always be to focus on mission…and not to go any further until my mission is crystal clear. From there, developing the right strategy and identifying the right goals comes more easily and they naturally become interconnected. Whenever I find myself drifting or struggling for an answer, it’s usually because I’ve lost the sharp focus on my mission or purpose.

For organizations, which inherently rely on groups of people working well together to be successful, unity in mission is essential and Carroll’s message seems that much more resonate. In this context, my personal translation of Carroll’s caution goes like this: Until everyone understands, believes in, and agrees to the mission, strategies will stray, and organizational goals won’t be met. While it falls well short of his literary brilliance, I believe it serves as a simple reminder for organizations to focus on mission and purpose before all else.